On family, children, sewing, face painting, sailing, renovating – and this and that

Ehm – well Frida needed new pants. I went to look in my stash, and found some corduroy, that seemed sturdy enough to handle playground use, and temperatures that don’t quite say summer yet. I also took out some Japanese linen-cotton for pockets and cuff.

Both fabrics have been used before – I made a romper and a bib for Frida using the Red Riding Hood fabric, and Ronja had a pair of pants made from the corduroy – that was when I learned it’s a bad idea to combine a really light fabric with a dark one if the garment is ever going to need washing… I also made this purse from the cord.

So anyway – I like the result. Except… they’re screaming WINTER! I should have made these in November – I kind of saw it coming while cutting the fabric, but I just didn’t have a lighter tone of corduroy in my stash. I’m so going to take the season into consideration for the next pair I’m making – I’ll probably have to go fabric-shopping. Too bad!

I used a basic pant pattern from a Danish sewing book by Ulla Welinder, and added a bit of length because I wanted the pants to have cuffs. Cuffs and pockets were my own additions.

I used the technique in which you serge the elastic to the edge of the waist, and it seems to me that it’s stretching the elastic a bit more than I expect it to. I just always seem to make them too loose initially. I started cutting 45 cm of elastic, and they were terribly loose, so I unpicked the waist, and cut out 4-5 cm. They fit her, but they could be tighter still, so next time, I’ll be cutting something like 38 cm elastic including seam allowance.

Oh well – they look cute on her, and next time I’m making pants that appear to be made for the season they will be used for.

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About the author

38 years old, living with my boyfriend Mads, and our two girls Ronja (9 years) and Frida (6 years). We own a house from 1912, which we spend a lot of time renovating. I write about my family - mostly the girls, our house, my sewing, and anything else that comes to mind.

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13 comments

It’s like I have a clone of your fabric stash! I have chocolate brown cord and Japanese prints just waiting to be used. And since its autumn here the timing is perfect for some little pants like yours. I’d love to cuff the bottoms but dont really know how. Do you recommend any online tutorials or Ottobre pattern instructions?

I love these! There are always cool summer evenings when Frida will benefit from a heavier pair of pants … and such a stylish pair too! (We have snow today! May 8th! That’s dreadful even by Canadian standards.)

I love these also ! I’d have to make these kind of pants for Kamilla too, for spring and for those cold summer days which are quite typical here in Finland. I love the brown color as well – it’s so practical and combined to e.g. to pink or to some other light color it’s perfect for summer also :).

These are lovely, great job. I’ve had a problem with this type of waistband before, it seems to happen with heavier fabrics. It happened with canvas trousers I made. As you say you need to compensate for that.I ended up putting an extra piece of elastic in the channel.(I was too lazy to unpick the waist!)

Love them, they turned out adorable! How much did you have to end up cutting the elastic (from her orig waist measurement)?…I tried to do it that way for a skirt for my niece and it was WAY too big that I unpicked and just made a casing…lol.

Astrid – congratulations on winning the award from Rae. Just to let you know that I have added you to my Google Reader. I just love reading your blog and about your two girls. The post about Frida going through the surgery made me cry. Reminds me of when my niece (that time four year old) had to stay at the hospital to remove some of her rotten teeth.